On the face of it, this is an odd culture clash, with the folksy, atmospheric pop of American singer/songwriter Simone White being given a thorough going over by Workshop+ mainstay Kassem Mosse. Yet sonically, it makes sense; Mosse is a master at eking the last drops of atmosphere from the barest of drum tracks, while Whi Read more...

To say this second album from Linkwood has been a long time coming is to present yourself as a candidate for Understatement of the Year. A follow up to Nick Moore's fine 2009 debut System has been regularly alluded to by Firecracker boss Lindsay Todd within the context of the label's other releases. It wasn't until an unr Read more...

As always, another SUED release surfaces out of the blue. This time it comes from the PG Sounds project of SVN and Philip Gelberg, the latter being an artist who contributed to Dynamo Dreesen’s killer 2011 Back In The Mists Of Time EP on Acido. SVN and Philip Gelberg also make up S.P Posse who last year supplied Acido with a three-track 12” of subcontinental inspired percussive rhythms, however this second PG Sounds record differs from the pair’s previous dalliances in that it’s almost completely instrumental hip hop. You could fairly argue the B1 represents the sound of SUED; deep and hazy, tropically laced, lo-fi house music, but the other five tracks do venture away, genre-wise, from what we’re used to hearing on the label. They do, however, feel right at home on SUED and the low end thrum-and-bump the duo get out of their beats and basslines are next level.

Hawaiian Simone White is name very familiar to Honest Jon’s as the singer-songwriter has released three albums on the London label since 2007. And here her ghostly voice drifts in and around three soundscapes idiosyncratic to Kassem Mosse’s aesthetic, each distinctly different from the other. “Flowers In May” will feel most familiar to followers of the German’s lo-fi yet celery-crisp sound, with White’s telephone filtered voice dodging ballast beats and splashes of acid. "In The Water Where The City Ends" is a lonely session of atmospheric trip pop where shrouds of breathy textures waft around shots of junk yard percussion, while “Long Moon” is a jingly, dubbed-out session of blurry house chords and spacious beats.

Lotic’s Tri Angle debut ain't no easy listen, and that’s the appeal of course, with high profile subscribers of J'Kerian Morgan’s way-out sound namely including Björk. The Texan producer is certainly the attention of some fully deserved hype right now, and if you’re not familiar with his work, may we suggest the swarming sounds of “Heterocetera” as your starting point. Throw all the genre tags you want at Lotic’s productions, there’s only one word we feel really sums it up, and that’s: futuristic. Following in the slipstream of other genre discombobulating artists like Fis, Boothroyd and SD Laika to appear on Tri Angle, Lotic’s sound is as fresh as it is threatening, and furthermore, the label’s chosen artwork visually goes the distance in representing the exo-industrial, pterodactyl style lurch of the music.

One of the best albums this year so far, Raica’s Dose, was originally released on cassette in 2012. Raica is the main production alias of Further Records co-founder Chloe Harris, and, rightly so, she’s given her eight-track LP a fully deserving vinyl release. This superb piece of ambient experimentation is a wholly fulfilling listen and it’s something you’ll find yourself returning to time and time again. Personal Juno Plus favourites include the rattling earthquake tremors of “Slep_non”, the spring-loaded pops and distorted synths of “Watr Dragn” and the lucid dreaming enhancer that’s “Satmor” – don’t sleep on this for a second time.

There’s something inherently lewd when combining the noisier spectrum of techno with BDSM concepts, which is becoming something of a suggestive theme throughout the growing catalogue of Endangered Species. Launched by The Trilogy Tapes, L.I.E.S. and Berceuse Heroique artist Oliver Vereker last year, the label’s home to a personal strand of music the New Yorker has released under his Restraint and Renior aliases, and now San Franciscan artist Skander is welcomed into Endangered Species’s pleasure zone with a three-track 12” of indecent distortion. Should you find yourself in a dank techno/sex club at the mercy of their resident gimp, let B-side cut “Death By Handgun” be the soundtrack, should, of course, The Revels’s “Comanche” infamously used in Pulp Fiction not be on hand. For more of the label’s artwork and inspiration check out the provocative musings of Darja Bajagić.

The 2012 I:Cube album “M” Megamix is still a long player the Juno Plus office stereo is familiar with, and that heavy grade synth riff from “Transpiration” will forever be ingrained on our collective memory. With the last I:Cube record coming in the shape of last February’s Cubo Rhythm Trax 12”, some new material from Nicolas Chaix is most definitely overdue, and how Cryptoporticus delivers, with the two renditions of the title-track living wonderfully to its creepy name. Those out there partial to a bit of Sheffield bleep will most definitely enjoy the Cloudy mix of “Cryptoporticus” which feels like an early Warp production suspended in space. B-side cut “Hovercraft” is just as good, pairing metronomic bleeps with a rousing new wave strut that would get Sir Weatherall all flustered.

This latest edition of Don’t Be Afraid’s transatlantic 10” Dubs series is perhaps the most abstract, with a track from mystery production unit Lily being drastically reshaped by the inimitable Madteo. If you regularly read Juno Plus, you’ll know this is a partnership exciting our ears, with plenty of mileage still being squeezed out of Lily’s Modern Malaise tape for No Corner in our office. In original form, “Memory Jacket” swiftly slips into a post apocalyptic groove where rhythmic elements appear to be deployed with deathly intent, but it’s fairly overshadowed by the accompanying remix from Matteo Ruzzon. The manipulation of his own voice regularly plays a key role in many Madteo productions and it’s centre stage here for the first few minutes. Then an effervescent house groove begins to take shape in the near distance with the result occupying that minute crawlspace between unexplainably abstract and undeniably danceable sounds.

Vessel and Ossia’s brashly named label FuckPunk emerged earlier this year brandishing a suitably confrontational attitude, which, crucially, was backed up by a killer first release of rewired Sleng Teng riddims. Vessel man Seb Gainsborough is again involved in this second record too, appearing alongside the unheralded Chester Giles for thedebut of ASDA. This suite of songs on Three Tracks sees Gainsborough’s mastery of lo-fi soundsystem production aligned to the vaguely stoned delivery of Giles, and the results are not too dissimilar to that 12” release from Inga Copeland and John T. Gast last year. “Spud-u-like” is that perfect clusterbomb for a soundsystem in a dank basement, but it is the mercilessly short "Bells" that really impresses. Here, Gainsborough opts for subtlety with a understated vocal harmony rippling underneath the doleful delivery of Giles. The sellotaped sticker across the the record's label only adds to the DIY feel too.

Maurice Fulton’s remix of Alice Smith’s “Love Endeavour” is often considered one of the producer's finest pieces; it was definitely a shoe-in for inclusion back when we ran a feature on Fulton’s best work in 2012. Of course the fact it was only released physically as a BBE white label back in 2006 has added to its cult status. Eamon Harkin and Justin Carter deserve a big pat on the back and a “nice work pal” for including that remix on this 12”, one of two samplers issued this week to accompany their Weekends & Beginnings mix CD from last year. Room is also made for a highlight of Bass Clef’s immense Punch Drunk album and Nebraska’s ace “Green Marimba”, but really it’s all about “Love Endeavour”. Expect to hear it a lot more in the discothèque which is a very good thing!
[jp_button text="Listen/buy vinyl" url="http://www.juno.co.uk/products/eamon-harkin-weekends-beginnings-sampler-volume-1/562473-01/" colour="24ba8b"]

Read interviews with Linkwood producer Nick Moore and you’ll discover a man unsatisfied with System, his debut album released on Prime Numbers some six years ago. Listening back you might feel like Moore is his own harshest critic as there is still plenty to enjoy, “Fudge Boogie” in particular, yet there is a vast difference between its execution and his new, long awaited album Expressions. Arriving in suitably heavyweight 3xLP edition through Edinburg’s excellent Firecracker Recordings, Expressions feels like a more matured album from Linkwood; the various moods are presented in a manner that comes across a lot more cohesive than his debut album. If moments reminiscent of Gigi Masin’s immersive work, eased between alluring saunters of richly textured deep house - and trips down the occasional techno wormhole - sound like your sort of album, Expressions is a long player that will bring you much joy.